Best Tent Camping near Torreon, NM

Visited the coal mine campground after driving a 500 mile day, so it was a set-up eat and crash situation. I did make a reservation on line, but that cost more than the $5 per site fee and was not necessary even though it was memorial day weekend. The fee is great because it is primitive, no electricity, no water at all, not just hookups, but the bathrooms were nice and clean with no sinks.

If you are prepared for a primitive camp with your own water and batteries for your electronics it is great. They have fire rings, grills, picnic tables and level places for tents.There are also nice back-in sites for boondocking RVs and the road up to the campground is fine for big rigs.

I ran into two mountain biker's here from Ireland that were riding the Continental Divide trail from The Mexican border in New Mexico to the Canadian border in Montana. They were staying here since the Trail goes through here. Paddy & Conner were very interesting people and I was fortunate to have run into them here.

I enjoyed my stay with a peaceful quite nights sleep and a short hike in the morning before breakfast cooked on the campfire. I would recommend this over a hotel stay if your passing through Grant's New Mexico on I40. You can probably get a site for the night anytime your passing through.

A nice campground set north of the town of Jemenz Springs. There was a fire ban in place and the Forest Service was planning on closing the entire forest the morning after I showed up. I had enough time to camp and get in one hike to a social spring before they came through and closed everything up for safety. The campground was nice, but there was no water available (it had been shut off in preparation for the closure). The campsites were nice and well spaced with lots of pine trees around each site, so there was a lot of privacy. There was an abundance of pine needle duff covering the ground which would have been great until you considered the fire danger. Each site had a picnic table and fire pit (with bright tape over it to remind you not to use it).

Jemez Falls campground is located in the heart of the Jemez, close to climbing, great hiking, fishing, hot springs, the Valles Caldera NP and Bandelier National Monument.

The campsites have plenty of space, and are more private than most campgrounds with the exception of those that are heavily wooded. The ponderosa canopy provides a fair amount of shade during the hot days. There are picnic tables and campfire rings at every site. There are vault toilets that are surprisingly clean. Just down the road are the Jemez Falls, a great place to splash in the river.

The campground is generally a family friendly environment where kids can roam in bicycle gangs, and dogs can chase a frisbee. Warning though, on many occasions the weekends have been a little noisy with rowdy campers that don’t think quiet hours apply. Don’t get me wrong, who doesn’t like kicking back by a campfire with friends? Who needs to be so loud that their voices ring through all of the camping loops and keep 70 other campers awake until 1 a.m? So yes, the quiet hours are from 10-6 or 8, but they don’t seem to be enforced. As a result, our family tries to weeknight camp at Jemez Falls whenever possible.

The campsites here are incredible! They are peaceful and tucked under an amazing starry sky. The ruins are unlike any other; visitors walk through the rooms sculpted by the puebloans a whole millienium earlier.

Gallo is a great car campground that still feels remote and tucked away from the world. Park is accessed from 17 miles of passable dirt road. Driver beware: wet conditions may make muddy roads temporarily impassible by cars not up to the task—call ahead if concerned. Flush toilets are available in campground, but there are no showers or other amenities. There is drinking water by the visitor center, which is only another short drive down the road. Bring all food and supplies because there are no supplies available within 40 minutes of the park and that is at a gas station.

Note about the few secluded tent only sites (sites 41-49): these sites do not allow you to park directly beside the site. You must walk your gear a short+ distance to a defined tent pad (mind the sizes when you reserve). Also, the way the wind blows through the canyon, sites 46-49 have no wind break, and fires may become too dangerous to light up. We camped in one of these and loved our experience. They have more space, are more private, and quieter. But setting up camp was more of a workout too!

The Gallo Campground is the only campground in Chaco Canyon National Park so reserving ahead of time or getting there earlier in the day depending on the season are very important. The park is very remote so it's a long drive on a potentially very rough road to get in but once you're there the route is well worth the visit.

I visited on a Wednesday night in mid October. The campground had filled up by about 2pm Wednesday and but was full by about 11am on Thursday.

There is currently no potable water at the campground but water is available at the Visitors Center a short drive down the road. There are however flushing toilets and running water in the bathrooms. The campsites each have a picnic table and fire pit. I thought the set up of the tent only area was interesting. There is a parking lot area with sites surrounding it on three sides. The set up allows for privacy between the sites which are nestled in among the rocks and plants.

I wish I had spent more time in Chaco Canyon exploring the sites, hiking, and going on tours. The daily tours and ranger talks provide more insight into the canyon's history than you can get with the self guided booklets.

No reservations accepted, but no one there so we had our pick (showed up on a Tues. in late May). Mens/womens restrooms look new, 2 of each, side by side. Sporadic 4g Verizon network (was VERY slow when it was up), sometimes no service. But, we were surprisingly able to watch end of game 4 Knicks/Pacers playoff, once it finally loaded! Short walking trail that is not marked well; took a side trip where it forked at the beginning and not sure where it went so, turned around. Right next to Hwy, but there was minimal traffic so no noise. Sheriff drove through once in evening. Some trees, some spots have some shade, elevation ~7000' or so (estimate). Some spots had nice space for multiple tents/sun shades. Most spots are level; those that weren't, were level enough, really not bad. Seemed safe enough. No water available, no hook-ups, no dump station.

Pulled into Redondo a few weeks ago on a last-minute weekend trip to the Jemez mountains. We'd thought about just driving a forest road to get more seclusion, but since it was already getting dark we figured we'd set up for the night then move on Saturday. Fortunately that wasn't necessary!

Redondo is in a stretch of tall pines in the Jemez. The sites are somewhat hilly, but have the basic Forest Service amenities: picnic table, fire ring, and pad. The site we found actually had some flat space back in the trees a bit so we set up there for the weekend.

For being a warm weekend in May, there weren't many folks at this campground.